€800 Main Event - 1M Gtd.
Day 1a Completed
2019 Golden Poker Million
€800 Main Event - 1M Gtd.
Day: 1a
Level 19
: 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
The first of five opening days of the Golden Million Cyrpus Main Event at the Noah's Ark Deluxe Hotel and Spa began with a bang with 110 entrants coming out in full force ready to compete for at least a guaranteed €1 million prize pool.
Players bought in for €800 for a stack of 80,000 in chips with blinds increasing every 45 minutes. Most players opted to increase their stack to 100,000 in chips via a €40 add-on. The add-on also acted as bubble protection.
After more than 16 1/2 hours of play, Russia's Dmitrii Vitugin emerged as the chip leader with 2,158,000 in chips. Also in the top five on Day 1a were, Hanouadi Del Pino (1,830,000), Jose Rivas (1,360,000), Justinas Fiseris (1,265,000), and [Removed:464] (899,000). In addition to heading into Day 2 with a big stack, Vitugin also wins a Golden Poker Series Madrid package valued at around €1,000 in March 2020.
World Series of Poker Europe bracelet winner Espen Sandvik, who fired three bullets on Day 1a, bubbled after he jammed with jack-eight on a queen-eight-four flop only to be called by Hanouadi Del Pino with ace-queen. It looked good for Sandvik to double after a jack came on the turn to give him two pair but a four paired the board on the river to give his opponent a better two pair. Since Sandvik added on, he was awarded €840 for his bubble finish.
Bariskaan Cinitas, Mahnaz Eskandari, Roman Nuraev, Miguel Faria Lopes, Mohammed Razkouallah, and Alexandre Klepikov were all eliminated before Day 2 ended to collect a min-cash of €1,200. All six of these players have the option to reenter during any of the four remaining opening flights. In addition, Klepikov was awarded a package to the Golden Poker Series Marrakech at the end of March 2020 valued at around €1,000 for bubbling bagging chips into Day 2.
Meanwhile, all players that failed to cash on Day 1a are invited to a freeroll on Wednesday that award the top five players a free entry back into the Main Event.
The action will resume tomorrow for Day 1b at 3 p.m. EET. Stay tuned at PokerNews for coverage of the Golden Million Cyprus Main Event.
Level 19
: 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,158,000 | |
|
1,830,000
1,230,000
|
1,230,000 |
|
1,360,000
460,000
|
460,000 |
|
1,265,000
865,000
|
865,000 |
|
|
899,000
74,000
|
74,000 |
|
|
816,000
-134,000
|
-134,000 |
|
701,000
701,000
|
701,000 |
|
656,000
-694,000
|
-694,000 |
|
483,000
-817,000
|
-817,000 |
|
410,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
337,000 |
Level 19
: 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Dmitrii Vitugin opened for 60,000 from early position before Alexandre Klepikov three-bet jammed for about 600,000. Vitugin tanked for several minutes before the clock was called. When the clock was down to just one second, Vitugin made the call.
Alexandre Klepikov: 
Dmitrii Vitugin: 
Vitugin was ahead when the chips were into the pot and kept the lead throughout the hand with the 
ran out on the board.
Stay tuned for the chip counts of the 11 players to advance to Day 2 from the Day 1a field and a full day recap.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,158,000
1,268,000
|
1,268,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level 19
: 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Miguel Faria Lopes jammed for about six big blinds with 
and was called by Alexandre Klepikov with 
.
The 
flop gave Lopes the early advantage and that advantage held after the 
came on the turn. However, the 
spiked the river to give Klepikov a straight and Lopes was ousted.
Around the same time, Mohammed Razkouallah was eliminated and the tournament is now on hand for hand with 12 players remaining on Day 1a.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
800,000
495,000
|
495,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Level: 19
Blinds: 10,000/25,000
Ante: 25,000
Level 18
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
After nearly 16 hours, players are now on a 10-minute break.
Level 18
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Dimitrii Vitugin jammed for 430,000 from the big blind with 
and was called by Mohammed Razkouallah who opened from early position with 
.
Vitugin's big slick held throughout the hand and he doubled up after the 
ran out on the board.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,500,000
-400,000
|
-400,000 |
|
|
890,000
390,000
|
390,000 |
Level 18
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Justinas Firesris opened from early position for 50,000 befoe Nuri Koral three-bet jammed for 191,000 from the big blind. Fiseris made the snap call an instantly turned over 
. Koral turned over 
and stood up from his chair.
Koral look liked he would be eliminated after the 
came on the flop followed by the on the turn. However, the spiked the river to give Koral the checkmark and instead of being ousted from Day 1a he doubled up instead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
400,000
150,000
|
150,000 |
|
|
400,000
250,000
|
250,000 |
Level: 18
Blinds: 10,000/20,000
Ante: 20,000